Happy New Year: My Five F’s

My friend and co-host of Indy Style, Tracy Forner, wrote an article about resolutions that resonated with me.  I thought I would share it with you in hopes that it will encourage you to “be awesome” this year.

“Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” – Mark Twain

With all due respect to Mr. Twain, I doubt he ever climbed onto an elliptical machine let alone swore off his trademark pipe for any length of time. Yet his words still reflect the attitudes and efforts of so many of us come January 1st.

While many will begin internal chants of “New Year, New You” to ring in the new year, soon enough nearly as many of us will simply wring our hands over falling short of our lofty goals. I won’t say “failings” because while most of us may not cross everything off our DIY (Do Improvement Yourself) list, we will probably make some strides, or at least baby steps, in the right direction. Steps that may never have been realized had we not bothered to formalize, crystallize or emphasize our intentions for the next twelve months.

My dad never alters his enthusiasm for resolutions, but he does tend to alter his approach. He’s had years where his goals fit on a business card and others that required a legal pad. Whether it’s two or two dozen, he likes to openly discuss his goals with others and is just as enthusiastic about others’ goals. Some behavioral psychologists state that a good way to help you toward a goal is to share that goal with others. I doubt my dad thinks of it that way. I think he’s just curious to see if his family and friends are as excited about making the attempt(s) as he is.

A good friend of mine goes so far as to categorize his resolutions into the five F’s: faith, family, friends, fiscal and fitness. I told him it sounded like way too much to tackle, but he said you’d be surprised how a resolution in one category can affect a seemingly unrelated one in another.

It didn’t take much thought to see his point. A simple resolution to keep better track of your finances could lead to a commitment to tithe or establish allowances for your children to learn some financial responsibility. It may even inspire you to repay a debt from a friend, or decide whether or not to renew that gym membership. BAM! One resolution, five categories covered.

I guess the point is no matter how you approach resolutions, make sure you at least approach them. So what if you save only a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand or only lose five pounds instead of ten. A half loaf is better than none (unless you’re trying to cut carbs) and a goal half attained is better than one not reached for at all. Unlike Mr. Twain’s assertion of where you’ll be paving a road to, I believe while you may not be paving a major highway, you will at least be blazing a trail in a better direction.

What Tracy wrote completely resonated with me.  I, like Tracy’s dad do love the “New Year”, New You” attitude and I always write out resolutions or goals.  I never separated in the five F’s like his friend did.  So I thought, why not try that this year?

Fiscal – I want to be a gracious giver. My husband and I decided to each month set aside money to help people in need.  We are planning on supporting three missionaries (our first time ever!!) and using the rest to help local causes that we feel passionate about.

Faith – I want to read through the entire New Testament this year.  I have read it many times but never really set a goal to completely read through a part of the Bible in a year.

Family – I want to encourage creativity in my kiddos and actively participate in projects.  We have signed up for a year of Kiwi Crate and I also want to make the Lowes Build and Grow FREE clinics a priority (we signed up for the January 12 and February 9th class already).

Friends – I want to proactively get together with one particular family we adore once a month.  You think this would be easy.  After all there are plenty of days in a month.  But with both of our schedules this has fallen by the wayside.  We are both recommitting to making this a priority.

Fitness – I want to make exercise a regular part of my routine.  I can really relate to Tracy’s line above “we will probably make some strides, or at least baby steps, in the right direction.”  I always set fitness goals and do feel that I fail miserably.  I figure if I keep making goals in this area I will take little steps towards health.

Want to see some of my friends home/personal goals? Click below to be taken directly to their posts.